M.Tech. Business Administration. Business School. / The purpose of this research is to assess which factors are critical to realize success in an Information Technology (IT) outsourcing relationship. The study assessed the applicability of the Relationship Quality (RELQUAL) model dimensions as relevant constructs that leads to relationship success and relationship retention on an existing IT outsourcing relationship. Emphasis was placed on the intangible factors which are trust, commitment, communication, cultural understanding and interdependence. This research was conducted within the context of the South African business environment.

Thesis (DTech. in Business Information Systems)--Tshwane University of Technology, 2008. / Existing literature propagates a variety of methods for assessment of intellectual capital. Unfortunately, awareness of, and interest in the assessment of intellectual capital far exceeds its use in practice. This research argues that, due to complexities involved in selecting and customising an appropriate method or combination of methods for assessing intellectual capital, mechanisms are needed for managing and applying the evolving body of knowledge concerning such assessment. This research proceeds to develop a model, referred to as a conceptual design for a system to (i) provide management support to the process of selecting and customising an appropriate method (or combination of methods) for assessment of intellectual capital, (ii) utilise past knowledge and expertise to accelerate and improve decision-making, (iii) promote synergism through integration of methods, and (iv) manage the evolving body of knowledge concerning the assessment of intellectual capital.

published_or_final_version / abstract / Japanese Studies / Master / Master of Philosophy

No description available.

The study was conducted to identify the sources of HIV/AIDS information used by residential university students on the Pietermaritzburg campus of the former University of Natal. HIV/AIDS is one of the scourges that the world is faced with. South Africa, before the 1994 elections, was fighting the obvious enemy, apartheid. The enemy now is the silent killer, HIV/AIDS. The future leaders, the students of this country, need to be challenged to behave in a manner that will bring about a change in their sexual behaviour, so that no students are lost to the AIDS epidemic and neither are the skills that they have acquired. The research was conducted at the then University of Natal (now known as the University of KwaZulu-Natal). The researcher administered a questionnaire to residential students of Pietermaritzburg campus to determine the sources of HIV/AIDS information used by them. There were four residences included in the study, namely Denison, Malherbe Hall, Petrie Hall and William O'Brien Hall. The study argues that it is time for the university sector and its partners to take stock of a situation that might quickly outpace the institutions. AIDS has become an everyday reality in the university system . There is a need for a clearer, more forceful definition of roles and responsibilities amongst all the partners in response to the epidemic. Provision of relevant information in an appropriate format needs to be an integral part of the University's response to HIV/AIDS. The study found that the residential students were generally satisfied with the existing sources of HIV/AIDS information. They did encounter problems in finding information in some of the sources given in the study. The study revealed that some of the sources of HIV/AIDS information were used more than others. The study suggested that the sources that are most frequently used should be utilised by information providers or university information stakeholders to disseminate information on HIV/AIDS among students. This study should help the University of KwaZulu-Natal to improve the information - related aspect of its HIV/AIDS intervention strategies at a time when the HIV/AIDS epidemic is threatening the academic sphere and the whole community at large. / Thesis (M.I.S.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2006.

Information technology gradually started to play a major role in the service rendering of academic libraries since 1994. Large amounts of money became necessary to enable libraries to provide the latest formats of information sources, as well as access to quality electronic databases. Prices of printed information sources also increased dramatically over recent years, along with a high South African inflation rate. Government subsidies for academic institutions also started to decline annually (De Kock, 1997). User needs, and information seeking patterns of library users also changed over recent years because of major information technology developments. Many authors performed studies on changing user needs in recent years, of which five were chosen to form the basis of this study. It became of utmost importance for libraries to monitor user needs regularly, to be able to identify changing needs and expectations. This will enable academic libraries with tight budgets to render more relevant and appropriate information services to specific user groups. Research procedures and methodology: A literature study was done in order to determine which information rendering models currently exist, as well as to find prior research on the information needs of engineers. This was followed by a qualitative study by means of semi-structured interviews. Personal interviews is a flexible method. which enables the researcher to ask follow-up questions, as well as to ask respondents to explain certain issues in detail (Huysamen, 1993 :15 1). The interview schedule contained thirty-three questions, based on eleven theoretical hypotheses constructed throughout the study. The following engineering departments were included in this study: Electronics, Applied Electronics & Electronic communication, Process instrumentation and Control, Power, Mechanical, Civil & Building, Metallurgy, Industrial & Production, and Computer Systems engineering. The aim of the study: This study is aimed at determining the information needs of engineering lecturers in particular, and also to determine if the Gold Fields library currently satisfies their information needs. All engineering lecturers have access to electronic databases as well as internet from their offices, and in many cases don't need to make use the physical library building any more. This study aims at finding out what their current information needs are, and which avenues they are currently being used to acquire relevant subject related information. Lecturers will also be probed about the role of the Gold Fields Library in their information needs. Conclusion: This study reveals that the information needs of engineering lecturers revolve primarily around their personal research interests, as well as changing lecturing methods. Printed and electronic information sources are currently complementing each other, and in no way is one replacing the other. This study also showed that the Gold Fields Library is currently not satisfying engineering lecturer's information needs, with specific reference to the intranet; some printed and electronic resources; training on electronic databases; packaging of information; personalized information services, and the subject knowledge of information librarians. Engineering lecturers were satisfied with the following: information interviews conducted by information librarians; personal attributes of information librarians; information technology competency of information librarians, and ethics. It became evident that the Gold Fields Library should consider certain changes and expansions to the information services currently rendered to engineering lecturers. / Thesis (M.Bibl.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2005.

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the kinds of terminology used in writing job descriptions for library assistants who provide information services affected the job evaluation rating for the jobs described. The study provided background information on the importance of the problem, pay equity and job evaluation systems, the nature and purpose of contacts in information and reference services, the changing roles of information providers and the problem of terminology in writing job descriptions. To examine whether the terminology in job descriptions made a difference in evaluation, three experienced job evaluators were asked to rate nine job descriptions representing three levels of jobs and three different terminologies: library, computer and generic. The respondents' ratings, five sets of nine ratings each, were analyzed by comparing the individual job evaluation plans, the respondents' numerical ratings and rationales. The findings revealed the similarities and differences in definitions used in each of the plans, the differences in ratings within and among plans and the extent to which the terminology used in the job descriptions could be attributed to differences in ratings. Some inconsistencies in ratings occurred. In most cases, the job description using library terminology was rated higher than its computer or generic counterparts but in two cases it was not. Of the three versions of terminology, the generic version led to the least favourable ratings. Considering the complexity of the responsibility o f contacts present to some degree in all three levels of jobs, some of the jobs may have been undervalued. Recommendations were made for action and for further study.

This study seeks to undertake an analysis of the topic of 'science and the media' as it has been constituted in academic discourse since the end of the Second World War. It finds that concern has polarized in two distinct camps: The larger, participant in the traditional project of North American media studies, blames the press for what it perceives as a widespread and deleterious "scientific illiteracy" on the part of the laity. The more recent, indebted to critical developments in social theory, philosophy of science, and the study of mass communication, works to expose the assumptions on which press coverage of science has been based and the interests which have benefited. / The thesis argues that the adequacy of the dominant concern to its object of analysis is at best suspect, but that nevertheless its agitations have been chiefly responsible for the form which popular science has predominantly assumed.

Agriculture is an important enterprise in Africa and indeed in Tanzania where it is one of the major economic sectors, embracing all its population. Agriculture contributes about 60% to the Gross Domestic Product, generates about 75% of the total export earnings and employs 84% of the Tanzanian active labour force. Information plays a critical role in agricultural development in most countries. However, one of the most serious reasons adduced for the low agricultural production in Africa is the limited access to adequate information support to all stakeholders in agricultural production. This affects all sectors of research, extension and training. Inadequate access to and use of agricultural information by research scientists undermines the potential to fulfil their information needs. They often lack access to current, relevant and timely information. This results in duplication of research efforts. Lack of access to scientific literature in the agricultural field in Tanzania has been attributed to the ineffectiveness of the various information providers in the country, among which the key ones are agricultural libraries and documentation centres. Studies by agricultural information specialists and international organizations have established that agricultural libraries and documentation centres in Less Developed Countries have not excelled in providing agricultural information to users. This has been attributed to several reasons. The major one being the non-implementation of policies, strategies and recommendations advanced by scholars, international organizations and consultants for more availability, accessibility and use of agricultural libraries' services and facilities. The main objectives of this study were to establish the extent to which Tanzania has implemented the key policies, strategies and recommendations for enhancing accessibility and use of agricultural libraries and documentation centres' services and facilities. Some of the key policies and strategies recommended by scholars include; increasing the libraries' capacity in human, financial and material resources. Such policies and strategies include, among many others: library staff development, cooperation and networking among agricultural libraries and documentation centres at national regional and international levels and formulation of national information policies to give guidance to agricultural information acquisition, organization, management and provision. They also include formulation of Information and Communication Technologies' policies for standardization in operating systems and data formats. Two main data collection instruments were used in the study namely; a self administered questionnaire and an interview schedule. The instruments were supplemented by on site observations of the libraries' operational activities. The sample size comprised 34 agricultural libraries and documentation centres located in all seven agricultural zones and 18 interviewees from the Ministry of agriculture, agricultural institutions and research stations. The Statistical Product and Service Solution (SPSS) for Windows version 9.0 was used to analyze the quantitative and qualitative data. The problems facing agricultural libraries and documentation centres in Less Developed Countries today are many and varied, and differ from one country to another. In Tanzania, the study findings established that these problems can be classified into six major categories: lack of adequate resources/materials; inadequate number of qualified personnel at managerial, professional and technical levels; lack of cooperation and coordination among existing libraries and documentation centres; limited financial resources; lack of explicit and operational training programmes for library personnel and lack of a national information policy per se. Tanzania has a number of sectoral policies in place, related to information, technology and research. These "little sectoral policies" are fragmented and need a policy framework to provide the missing coordination. The study established that the number of skilled information staff in the national agricultural library system was small. Libraries and documentation centres in many agricultural institutions and research stations were poorly equipped and lacked professional trained staff. Furthermore, operational budgets were limited and hence lack of current and relevant library materials including Subscriptions to scientific journals. Contacts of agricultural information personnel with regional and international circuits on development were found limited. The study findings also revealed that the agricultural library information system in Tanzania was lacking in efficiency and effectiveness in meeting the diversified information needs of agriculturalists, particularly the research scientists. To this effect, where information was abundantly available, it was often inaccessible due to lack of technical know-how in documentation, organization and management for awareness of its availability to users. The study assumed that the global Information and Communication Technologies (lCTs) and current technological developments in the publishing industry could facilitate effective agricultural information organization and management, including repackaging of information for extension personnel and farmers, and resource sharing via electronic networking. However, the poor economic growth of Tanzania, as in other Less Developed Countries, has posed limitations to the full utilization of ICTs through lack of resources, policy guidelines and frameworks for the implementation of such policies. The study concluded that there has not been an effective and efficient implementation of policies, strategies and recommendations for access and use of agricultural information in Tanzania due to a number of problems, the main ones being: lack of awareness of the policies and strategies among the libraries, parent organizations and policy makers and lack of capacity of the libraries and documentation centres to implement the policies, strategies and recommendations. The study recommended that agricultural libraries and documentation centres in Tanzania be given priority in budget allocation for acquisition of basic equipment, such as photocopiers and microcomputers and for training library personnel at all levels. The more affluent libraries, such as the Sokoine National Agricultural Library and the Division of Research and Development library of the Ministry of agriculture, should audit their resources to determine the best ways to assist the documentation centres in remote research stations to organize and adequately present the required information to users. Agricultural libraries' managers and information specialists should become more assertive, focused, and committed in finding out about the policies and recommendations and eventually working out the requirements for their implementation and monitoring. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2001.

This study has been undertaken to determine and examine the managerial competencies required by library managers at different managerial levels in effectively managing change in university libraries in South Africa. South African universities have experienced a large number of changes since 1994 which have inevitably affected the libraries of these universities. Library managers have been faced with a number of challenges. The study includes a literature review which highlights the findings that library managers in university libraries in South Africa, are not prepared to manage change. The literature review also identifies the competencies that are required to manage change. These are: • Communication • Planning and administration • Teamwork • Strategic action • Global awareness • Self-management. The following management functions are also highlighted in the literature review: • Job descriptions • Job/person specifications • Human resource planning • Recruitment and selection of staff • Staff appraisal • Staff training and development. Questionnaires were used to gather data from the population of the study. The data was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS) Version 15. The main findings of the study are: • Library managers in the university libraries are not equipped to manage change • First line managers do not require any of the competencies to manage change. • Middle managers require communication competencies and teamwork competencies. • Communication competencies, planning and administration competencies, teamwork competencies and strategic action competencies are required by senior managers to manage change. Based on the descriptive statistics and the hypotheses tested, this study provides a basis for a model that identifies the competencies and managerial functions that are required by the different managerial levels to manage change in university libraries in South Africa. Recommendations include that: • Library schools introduce a module on change management • Competencies to be work shopped to all levels of library managers • Structured training needs to be undertaken that cover all managerial functions • A management qualification must become a minimum requirement for all managerial jobs in university libraries • All senior managers should at least have a management major in their first degree or a Master of Business Administration (MBA). / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2009.